Two Koreas to hold working-level military talks on Sept. 13

Maj. Gen. Kim Do-gyun (R), official of the RoK’s Defense Ministry in charge of the inter-Korean military affairs, shakes hands with Lt. Gen. An Ik-san of the DPRK during the general-level military talks at the border village of Panmunjom on July 31, 2018. ( Photo: Xinhua/Joint Press Corps)

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The Republic of Korea (RoK) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) agreed to hold the working-level talks on military affairs later this week, Seoul's Defense Ministry said Tuesday (September 11).

The ministry said the two sides agreed to hold the 40th round of inter-Korean working-level military talks on September 13 at Tongilgak, a DPRK building at the border village of Panmunjom.

The DPRK side proposed the military dialogue, accepted by the RoK side, according to the ministry.

The military talks would come ahead of the summit between RoK’s President Moon Jae-in and DPRK top leader Kim Jong-un, scheduled to be held in Pyongyang for three days from September 18.

The colonel-level military officers from the two sides were forecast to discuss ways to ease military tensions between the two Koreas, including the withdrawal of a part of guard posts inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ), which divides the two sides, on a trial basis.

Also on the dialogue agenda would be ways to disarm the Joint Security Area (JSA) inside the Panmunjom and the joint excavation of the remains of fallen soldiers during the 1950-53 Korean War.

Those issues were agreed upon by the two sides during the general-grade military talks in late July.